Jimmy's love of music continues to grow exponentially. I am sitting next to him - he has my phone and is on YouTube watching Fitz and the Tantrums videos and live performances. I am thrilled this love of music is shared by everyone in this house. But knowing that I am taking his brother to a show that I think he would love to go to himself, but I can't muster the courage to take him along - I am feeling pretty horrible. As much as he loves the music, the crowds would be more than he could handle. And he would be more than I could handle - not just containing him in the chair and keeping him safe in the crowd, but how the crowd would interact with him.
As much as I think the 9:30 Club staff would be as helpful as possible (they really are incredibly kind and welcoming to Jacob and have indicated that they would help in any way they could with Jimmy), I almost think a venue like the Patriot Center would be better. They have the landing where they market accessible seating and I see lots of people with disabilities every time I go to the venue. I just wonder how you get to that point. Where do you take that leap of faith in trying something that big an experience? If he loves music this much, I can't imagine live performances not being part of his life. But it's a lot of money (a ticket for him, me and a caregiver to even have a chance of success) and work to get to that point.
To get kids comfortable with the process of flying, carriers will sponsor trial flights. I wish we could get a venue and a band to do the same sort of introduction for our community of fans.
Ok, rant over...
